Minnesota Agencies

In 2019, Rep. Jamie Long and Sen. David Senjem introduced legislation (HF2396/SF2637) that proposed allowing local units of government the option to adopt the Sustainable Building 2030 performance standards as an advanced energy building standard applied to all new commercial and large multifamily buildings. The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) and the Minnesota Department of Commerce, convened an informal short-term workgroup to examine this complex topic and consider various policy solutions.

The workgroup met from October 2019 through January 2020. Workgroup discussion was used to inform the agencies’ perspectives about potential policy options that enable cities to make progress on building efficiency and carbon use.

The Workgroup produced a report in December 2020, that details the process and input from experts and stakeholders and their resulting policy recommendations.

Building Efficiency Workgroup Members:

• Commissioner Steve Kelley, Department of Commerce
• Commissioner Nancy Leppink, Department of Labor and Industry
• Deputy Commissioner Rachel Robinson, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
• Kelly Hyvonen, Big-D Construction
• Justin Knopps, JE Dunn
• Jessica Looman, MN State Building and Construction Trades Council
• Andy Snope, IBEW Local 292
• Gary Thaden, MN Mechanical Contractors Assn
• Gerard Guth, HGA Architects and Engineers
• Rick Carter, LHB Corp
• Craig Johnson, League of MN Cities
• Kurt Schultz, City of St. Paul
• Brian Hoffman, City of St. Louis Park
• Megan Hoye, Center for Energy and Environment
• Ben Rabe, Fresh Energy
• Pat Stockhaus, CommonBond Communities
• Richard Graves, U of M Center for Sustainable Building Research
• Senator Dave Senjem, MN Senate bill author
• Representative Jamie Long, MN House bill author
• Barry Greive, Target Properties
• Becky Landon, Newport Midwest, LLC